Thanks for Caring
by LifelessDoll
Summary: Paul makes one too many joke at Leah, who runs home, only to have a certain Alpha follow her and console her. Sometimes, all someone needs is to know that someone cares. Rated M for lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**; I own nothing but the plot.

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"We are afraid to care too much,

for fear that the other person does not care at all."

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"You know what Paul? You're an asshole."

I pulled myself off of the couch that I had once occupied and walked out of the house, slamming the door behind me, resisting the urge to phase. I mean, who wouldn't?

Every single fucking meeting, or gathering, whatever you want to call them, he's always there, cracking jokes about me. How I'm not able to have children, or how he always forgets that I'm a girl. Did he think that I actually chose this life? If it weren't for this life, actually, if it weren't for the existence of werewolves at all, I'd still have Sam, I'd still have my dad, and I'd still have my life back. Now? Now my life is devoted to protecting some stupid leeches, who, for the record, can protect themselves. Stupid Alpha and his stupid commands.

I started walking back home when I heard someone following me.

"Oh come on Leah, don't leave because of him."

Figures. Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

"Go away, Jacob."

I kept on walking. If he thought that he could stop me, he was way out of it. If he tried to command me though, someone might not have children in the future.

"He's an asshole, we all know it. I'm sorry that he picks on you the most though," he said with sincerity in his voice.

I turned around and faced him.

"He doesn't pick on me the most, he just simply picks at me. When has he ever cracked a joke about Seth? Embry? Quil. Sam. Emily. You. Never, not once. It's always been me, Jacob, and I'm sorry that you had to apologize for him, but that's exactly it. I want an apology from him. Not you, him, and the chances of that are slimmer than a snowball's chance in Hell. And don't you fucking dare Alpha Command him to do it either, I want him to do it out of his own free will."

I turned around and continued walking, satisfied that I didn't hear footsteps behind me.

I got home and ran upstairs, plopping onto my bed and just start sobbing uncontrollably. It's something I've always done when I first got made fun of Paul. It's just a habit now, for me to do this. Everyone always thinks of me as the cold - hearted bitch that can't be hurt by anything, mentally or physically, but they're wrong. The only thing wrong with people thinking you're strong is that they think that they can constantly make fun of you and that you wouldn't care; you'd shrug it off, but they're so wrong. Every single one of their harsh words hurt me, they just don't know it, nor will they ever.

I felt the tears starting to dry when I heard stones being thrown at my window.

Seriously, why can't anyone just leave me alone to wallow? I'm perfectly capable to express my feelings when I'm alone.

I sighed, and got up to see who was outside.

"Jacob, I swear if you don't leave me alone, I'll get a restraining order against you," I yelled down to him while lifting up the window.

"I just wanna talk to you."

I hesitated, not sure what this could mean.

"Uhm, sure, I guess. Just come through the front - door ..."

That bastard climbed the tree into my bedroom, and left a dent on my windowsill. Is it that hard to use the front door? It's there for a reason for Pete's sake!

"Or not."

I walked back to my bed and sat down, waiting for him to say whatever he needed to. Instead, he sat himself down right next to me and let an uncomfortable silence stand between us until he finally spoke.

"I talked to Paul, and you know what? I don't think anyone can get through to that guy. He's such an asshole and his ego - dear Lord, don't get me started on that. I'm sorry that there's nothing that I can do to make all his cruel jokes stop, but I just wanted to know that I tried."

I looked at him, not believing my ears.

"Jacob, why would you try, even if you knew the results?"

He met my gaze.

"Because I care, Leah."

Someone actually cared. About me. Aside from Seth and my mother, I thought that all chances of someone actually caring for me was gone. Then again, being the bitch of La Push didn't really help either.

"Why do you care, Jake?"

"Because."

Again, there was that uncomfortable silence.

"Well, thanks for caring, Jacob," I said as I turned myself and gave him a hug. I'm guessing he didn't expect one seeing as his whole body tensed up. That, or he didn't know I was capable of giving hugs.

I let go, but his hands were still holding onto my waist and his face was buried inside the crook of my neck.

"J - Jake?"

"Leah, I love you."

First he cares, and now he loves me. If this is a cruel joke that they were all in on, I think that my heart would break. Even for them, this is too far to take a joke.

"I'm sorry, what?"

I tried to push him away so I could look into his eyes and find some truth in his eyes, but I failed. He held on tight, as if he were afraid to lose me.

"Jacob, look at me. Please."

He hesitated, but his eyes met mine, and he finally spoke.

"I love you, and I care about you. Always have, even when we were kids, and I probably always will. That's why I was so upset that I couldn't do anything else about the jokes, because despite the fact that they all think that you're strong, and that you can take it, I know you can't."

I felt a tear roll down my face, but he kissed it away.

"I love you," he whispered as he kissed me on the lips.

Needless to say, I was caught off - guard, but soon enough, I found myself responding back hungrily to the kiss, as was he. My hands were wrapped around his neck and were soon on his naked chest, going down and feeling every bump of his washboard abs. What started out innocent now turned into a fight over who was going to win the war. To my dismay, I lost.

He pulled back and put his hands on the hand of my tank, silently asking for my permission to continue. I nodded and he lifted the shirt off me, making sure that his hand skimmed all the right places before he finally bent his head down and took one of my nipples into his mouth. That man can do things with his tongue that shouldn't even be legal, I swear. I moaned and arched my back into him, shoving his head closer to me, not getting enough.

My fingers somehow found their way to the top of his shorts, and I started tugging down on them, hoping that he'd get the message and help me pull them off, which he did. Eventually. He pulled away from my chest and ripped my shorts off, panties along with it. Well damn. Those were my favorite pairs too. Both of them.

He took his hand and started moving them upwards to the place where I longed for him to touch. He then took his fingers and started sliding them back and forth across my wet pussy. Adding his thumb to push my little button around in circles, I nearly lost it.

"Jacob, now," I panted.

Gratefully, he obliged and took his length, prodding at my entrance, teasing me again. I groaned in frustration.

"Jacob!"

He chuckled, and then slid himself in me. He threw his head back in ecstasy before moaning my name and continued thrusting into me at a pace that increased as time went by. I raised myself, wanting him to thrust into me deeper.

"Oh fuck Leah, you're so tight," he said as he threw one of my legs over his shoulder. The new position had him hitting me in places I didn't even know existed, and my gosh it felt great.

He kept going faster and faster until I felt a familiar coil at the bottom of my stomach building up.

"Jake, I'm gonna cum," I gasped.

After a couple more thrusts, I came undone and so did Jacob. Tired, he pulled himself out of me and rolled over to my side. Both spent, we looked up at the ceiling and tried to catch our breath.

"Jacob?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

I turned to over to my side and looked at him.  
"Thank you for understanding and caring when no one else did."

He turned his body towards mine and met my gaze.  
"Thank you for letting me into your life."

For the first time since, well, I don't even remember when, I felt myself give a smile. Not a snarky smile like, 'Hah, I just proved you wrong,' or a smirk, but a genuine smile, something I thought I would never be able to give after everything that's happened to me. Sam leaving me for my cousin, Emily, who everyone thought was better than me in every way. Daddy dying after Seth and I phased for the first time, giving him a heart attack. I don't know, after a while, it just seemed like a habit for me to make everyone else live through the same Hell I had to, but maybe it's time for change. Maybe my first change was this; letting someone into my life.

I'm not sure when it hit me, but I started thinking about it and I realized that I really missed this feeling, the feeling of someone that caring for you.

Maybe, in order to have someone care for you, you have to care for them, but then again, maybe that's the thing. All this time I was so afraid of letting someone hurt me again that it didn't occur to me that I should care about anyone else except for those who I needed to protect, namely myself, Seth and my mother, causing me to be the bitch that everyone thinks I am.

Whatever it is, I think that this _thing_ between me and Jacob might actually help fix me.

We fell asleep that night, facing each other and whispering sweet little things to one another until we both fell asleep.

I didn't want to say it, but I think I may honestly care for this boy.

Hell, I might even love this boy, but let's keep that to ourselves for now, shall we?

In the near distance there was a lurking vampire who just so happened to be out hunting. This one vampire was very familiar with all the hidden emotions that the pack mates hid from one another.

"Don't worry Leah, I won't whisper a word," he said to no one in particular.

"Edward, honey, are you okay?" his wife, Bella, asked him, looking a bit concerned.

"Just talking to myself, Bells," he said with a smile.

She shrugged it off and they both returned home, both satisfied with their hunting trip; Edward satisfied that some secrets have finally revealed themselves.

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**Sooo? How was it? Good, bad, horrible? Doesn't take that long to review, so please do! **

**Also, I edited my profile and it now lists upcoming stories! **

**Well, that's about it for today. Until next time! (:**

**-Doll.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I only own the plot.**

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I woke up the next morning, looking at the cute guy that fell asleep right next to me. He looked so happy, the way he was before the whole Bella thing happened. Guess some of you don't know it, but he used to be head over heels with her, that was, before she turned into a le - vampire to be with her precious Edward for the rest of her life. He says he's over it but I think deep in his heart that he still cares for her.

My thoughts didn't get to progress since Jacob stirred awake and started looking around the room in what I had assumed was a 'where the fuck am I' look. He finally saw me and I guess everything all rushed back to him.

"Good morning," I whispered to him.

He stretched his arms, flexing his muscles above him, "Morning."

I patted his stomach, "Might wanna get up right about now and get dressed. We have a meeting with the Cullens today, remember?"

He groaned, probably in sign that he did not, in fact, remember. I couldn't blame him; I didn't want to remember. Hell, if it wasn't for Sam constantly reminding us I would have forgotten about it. That guy needs to chill the fuck out, it's not like he's the Alpha or anything anymore.

"Come on. I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast," I said getting dressed.

I walked down to the kitchen but not before I heard a light snore come from my bedroom. Figures. I really shouldn't have given him the benefit of the doubt. As soon as I started cooking breakfast though, Jacob sprinted down the stairs, woken up by the smell of the food. Again, figures. I just started cooking the bacon when I felt his arms around my waist.

"Smells good," he said inhaling the smell. "Really good."

"Thanks sweetheart, but you're not getting any of this until everything's done," I said, looking back and giving him a quick peck on the lips.

He groaned in defeat, knowing that I had caught him in the act.

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Right after we had breakfast, we drove over to the Cullen's house for our meeting. We waited for a while for the rest to come, making small talk with anyone that we could. I spoke with Alice and Rosalie for a bit and they suddenly weren't as annoying as I last remembered them. Alice is simply bubbly and hyper almost all the time, about anything really. Make-up, clothes, I swear she could've been a fashion designer or something along the lines of that living in a past town. Rosalie wasn't quite the bitch that everyone said she was, just misunderstood, like me. Turns out I have a lot more in common with the leeches than I had expected.

I glanced over at Jacob where he looked across the room with a very sorrowful face. I looked where his eyes were and saw Bella talking to Edward. I looked back over to him and sighed, wishing that I hadn't been right about him not being over her yet. You don't know how badly I was wishing that he was over her.

The rest of the pack arrived and sat in their places and the meeting began. Apparently the meeting wasn't so mandatory as Sam brought it out to be. Just talking about where the treaty line actually was and a group of other nearby leeches. Oh, and the fact that they may go to Alaska for a while to reunite with some people called the Denalis. That was about it, yeah. Thanks for making me wake up early, Sam.

I guess Edward was mind - raping me again because he said, "Sorry that you had to wake up early for this, Leah. I'm sure you had something more important to do," looking back and forth at me and Jacob. I swear I was blushing, and I just wanted to die. Please don't let anyone catch that, please don't let anyone catch that.

"Like what? Bitch and complain about everything wrong with her life? Pissing us all off? Adopt a child from a foreign country and hope that she can raise it to love her?" Paul smirked.

It was silent, but sometimes, silence is the loudest noise. No one standing up for you, no one saying anything is worse than everyone gossiping.

Leah, you're not going to cry. You're going to stay strong. I kept telling that to myself but I just couldn't do it anymore. I did what I did every single time; I ran out of the house and phased, running to the cliffs where I used to go after Sam and I broke up.

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He went too far. Again. Every single time he goes too far and she's always the one that gets hurt.

"Really, Paul? Was that really necessary? Don't you think what you said to her was bad enough?" I all but yelled at him.

"Oh come on, dude. It's the truth and you can't deny it," he retorted.

"No, Paul. You keep saying that it's a joke, and that it's just the truth, but maybe she's not the one that keeps bitching and complaining about everything. Maybe it's you. Think about it. When was the last time she brought up her infertility or her inability to have children? The last time she brought up Sam? Or even the last time she bitched to anyone? You're the one that keeps holding on to everything bad that she's done in the past and putting it against her. When will you learn and grow up?"

"He's right, Paul. That was unnecessary and uncalled for," Edward said, stepping in.

Everyone else in the pack murmured in agreement while the rest of the leeches stayed quiet.

He scoffed in disbelief that everyone was turning against him. Well, almost everyone, but it was high time. True he may have never picked on any of us like he did Leah, but we were all getting tired of it. I thought he was going to back-talk once again, but he just stood up and left.

"That was all we had to discuss about, right?" I sighed, asking the Cullens.

They nodded and that was all it took for me to leave.

I had to find her and make sure that she was okay. There were only so many cruel jokes that she could take and she never told anyone, just kept bottling them up. Please let her be okay, please. At least let me reach her in time before she does anything to herself.

Please.

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**So .. Yeah. It's a story now. I think. Not sure how long it's going to be but I will extend it a little bit. (:**

**Thanks to all the reviewers & for those who encouraged me to continue it; love you lots! **

**If you haven't already, check out my newest story, Lovely Summer!**

**Love, Doll. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I only own the plot.**

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Everything was peaceful and it just seemed right. I got to see things that I thought I'd never see again; love, friends, relatives, my dad. I always knew that he'd be there for me but actually seeing him there, in front of me, made me wish that I was with him all the time again, just like when I was younger and clung onto him on his fishing trips with Charlie and Billy. As quick as the rush of memories came, it was all gone.

_No, Daddy!_

"Leah, wake up," I heard someone desperately say.

"Get the fuck away from me and just leave me be," I mumbled as I flipped onto my front side, resting my head on my arms in an attempt to get comfortable again. Hopefully I could go back to sleep and my dream would continue from where it left off.

"Wake up or I'll wake you up," the voice threatened.

"Get. The. Fuck. Away."

"I warned you," and without any other word I felt myself being lifted over someone's shoulder.

"What the hell is your problem?" I mumbled as I tried to wake up so I could understand what the hell was actually happening to me. "Can't you just leave me be and let me fucking sleep?"

"You can sleep when I know you're somewhere safe and the possibility of you rolling off or even possibly jumping off the cliffs are cut, Lee."

_Lee. _

Only one asshole would try and wake me up from a sweet dream and call me 'Lee'.

"Jacob, his words hurt but I'm not stupid enough to jump off and kill myself, no matter how much I'd like to. If I did, then that would mean that he won and that's the last thing I need: Paul, bragging that he finally beat me at something. Even over my dead body I wouldn't let that happen. I die before him? That's alright because I can come back and haunt the shit out of him cause let me be honest with you, he's definitely on my damn list. And the chances of me rolling off the cliff? Very very slim," I said, suddenly awake and understanding everything around me.

We were nearing his house now; I could tell because of the way that the trees were divided and split. If you lived here as long as I have, you'd have the whole forest that divides most of La Push memorized, which includes but is not limited to every twist and turn and every tree branch that's in your way. Being wolves help too, considering the fact that we have to run patrols around this area.

He kicked open the front door and walked into his room, with me still over his shoulders, and dropped me ass first into his bed.

"Talk."

I sat there, not understanding what he meant. I mean, did he not just hear my whole rant of me not going to kill myself or has he gone mental?

"I'm sorry?"

"You heard me; talk. Tell me what's going on with your mind, what you think of every time Paul makes a crude joke. Anything you want to talk about and I'll listen. Anything and everything," he said, looking at me as he took a seat right next to me on his bed.

"Jacob, I don't really think this is - "

"Just. Talk. Please. I want to understand you and the way your mind works. I want you to let me in on your life," he said with the most sincerity in his voice as possible.

I sighed, but obliged to his request. We spent hours and hours talking about how Paul is basically the douche-bag of the entire world, how I'm not sure what I wanted to do with my life anymore now that Sam wasn't a part of it, even though there's been more than enough time since it happened. We even touched on the most sensitive case for me: my dad's death. It felt good to get everything out and not have to hold anything in anymore. Everything just kept bottling up inside of me and Jacob had a theory that bottling up my feelings was what was causing me to have those sudden angry outbursts that I occasionally had. Yes, occasionally. Don't get me wrong, I had outbursts but not angry, just ... bitchy.

"Feel any better now?" he asked. At this point, we were both lying down on the bed facing each other, and yes, we were fully clothed, and no, we did not fuck. Yet.

I snorted.  
"Yeah, cause spending the last three hours, crying, was really a great way to make me feel better."

"Well, you got a lot of stuff out so I don't know," he shrugged.

We sat there for a while until I broke the ice. Well, attempted anyways, but I was never good at doing so.

"Hey Jacob?"

"Hmm?"

"How did _you_ feel when Bella went with Edward?"

He breathed in sharply which I took was a sign that it was a subject he really didn't want to talk about. Of course, I was to let him in on my life but it couldn't be done vice versa; I see how it was.  
"Never mind, you don't have to answer that," I said as I turned my back to him.

"I felt like shit," he finally said. "I felt like everything had gone wrong and that this wasn't the life that I was meant to be. I began to hate everyone and everything all around me and thinking that I didn't deserve anything. Don't get me wrong; I tried. I tried so hard to get over her but it was just so hard. Every time I tried to do something to get her out of my head, a little voice was still there, in the back of my head, reminding me of her. Fixing up cars. Running. Fishing. Everything just reminded me of her and I just couldn't take it."

Amazing. He felt the same thing that I felt when Sam left me for Emily. I knew that everyone went through a period when they thought that the world had nothing left for them anymore but it really surprised me that he literally felt the same thing I did.

"So when did you finally get over her?" I said as I turned back around and looked at him. He looked right back at me and replied.

"When I really saw you for the first time."

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**Please review; you don't know how happy it makes me when I log onto my hotmail and I see a whole bunch of e-mails from Fanfiction telling me that I got reviews or that people have added me or my story to their favorites. Yes, it's a very very big thing to me! **

**Until next time my lovelies,  
****Doll.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**; I own nothing but the plot.

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To say I was shocked was an understatement. Here I was, in Jacob Black's bed, and he just told me that he got over his what-seemed-like-a-lifetime crush over Bella because of _me. _Not any other girl, but me! To say I was ecstatic was an understatement, but I hoped that it wasn't that it wasn't that visible on my face.

"When was that?"

"That first night you ran to me and let me in on your life," he smiled.

"Jacob, that was just a couple hours ago," I retorted.

"I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about the first time you ran to me for help because no one understood what was going on or how you were feeling. I remember; it was a couple days after your dad passed away and you snuck into my room while I was sleeping. Very brave of you, might I add," he said with a chuckle.

Now that he brought it up, I remembered that night very clearly. I ran to Jacob because I felt as if he were the only one that could relate me and sooth me because he went through the same thing, losing a parent. I wasn't thinking at the time. I was just thinking that I needed to get out of the house full of memories of what will never be again and truth was, if he didn't help me that night I could have possibly found a way to end everything all together. Technically speaking, I'm not supposed to exist, so I thought to myself, 'why not set it straight?' but in the end, his comforting words helped me through it all.

"Brave. I'm just about everything but that," I sighed, snuggling into his chest, only to have him wrap his arms around me.

"I wouldn't say that. You put on a brave face everyday just to deal with the pack, especially Paul. It takes a very brave girl to do that."

"Hah. You're the only person in the world that'd say that."

"Because I speak the truth as I see it."

I'm not quite sure how long this conversation carried on but I remember he ended up fell asleep before me because he stopped responding. The last words he said before he drifted off into dreamland made my heart double in speed. Not only because it reawoken something in me I thought was long gone, but because it scared me just thinking about the thought at what'd happen if he were to imprint. For now, I'm not really concerned about it though. I'm a big girl. I can handle myself, right?

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_"Leah. I care about you and I love you. Forever and always."_

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** It's been to long, my loves, and I apologize profusely. I had to refamiliarize myself with this story before I attempted to finish it off smoothly. I'll try and update my other stories today, but I'm not quite sure which one so help me out here guys? Please review and tell me how I could improve my writing and such. I truly do hope you enjoyed this piece. **

**xoxo, **

**-Doll. **


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